LUSAKA—At the University of Zambia in Lusaka, a final-year demography student, Mwila Walima, explains Bitcoin at a campus meetup as he holds up his phone, comparing Bitcoin to a popular service.
“Imagine mobile money, like Airtel Money, but one that works anywhere in the world and isn’t controlled by any one company or government,” he says, then taps a Bitcoin wallet app to send K50 worth of Bitcoin in seconds just as easily as a WhatsApp message. “You don’t need to buy a whole Bitcoin, you can start with tiny fractions we call Sats.”
In Zambia’s struggling economy, this “digital hustle” is more than a phrase as young people like Mwila discover how freelancing and cryptocurrency can work together to bypass traditional barriers.
Zambia is a young country with a median age of 17.9 years, and nearly two-thirds of the population is under 25. A recent survey found that over half of Zambian youths are actively job-hunting. Many graduates face a stagnant public sector, while countrywide inflation is in double digits, and banks and formal finance reach only about one in five adults.
To serve the unbanked, mobile money platforms are stepping in for local remittances. Statistics reveal that more than 56 percent of senders and over 88 percent of recipients use them. The problem with this new solicitor is that it rarely works across borders, or when it does, it’s inadequate. For example, if a Lusaka freelancer completes a $50 project overseas, bank cuts and fees can gobble half of it in days.
Freelancing Beyond Borders
After failing to find a local job, many youths turned to online gigs and clients abroad. Luka Yooma, a Lusaka-based software developer and founder of Linka Innovations, recalls the frustration of getting paid by international clients.
“In Zambia, it’s always been a headache to receive money from outside, either the fees are high, or the transfer takes forever,” says Yooma. Then he heard about Bitcoin at a local meetup and tried it for a project.
“With Bitcoin, I could do a job for a client anywhere around the globe and get the payment the same day. You could get paid instantly by clients abroad without stressing over PayPal or bank restrictions. That freedom made me adopt Bitcoin as my payment option for my work,” says Yooma.
Mwila’s experience is similar. He found freelance opportunities through university groups and online forums, jobs that would have been impossible to turn into cash via PayPal or Western Union. But with Bitcoin, it lets him get paid directly without worrying about how to receive an international bank transfer, which is slow and costly.
Emmanuel Mangalashi, co-founder of Bitcoin Zambia, notes that banks and money transfer services skim huge fees off freelancers. For instance, he says, if a U.S. client sends $30, local charges can take $15 or more before the funds are clear. By contrast, Bitcoin’s Lightning Network is near-instant and almost free.
Humphrey, who runs a Bitcoin education community in the tourist town of Livingstone, observed that “with our current banking system, if they pay you $30, they will get a charge of, like, $15. And that is just insane. With the Lightning Network on Bitcoin, you get the money the way it is.”
Bitcoin as a Financial Lifeline
Beyond payments, young Zambians see Bitcoin as an alternative store of value after decades of currency devaluation taught them to hedge against inflation. Mangarashi points out that Zambia’s inflation rate often runs upwards, making savings in Kwacha disadvantageous.
“That’s where Bitcoin comes in,” says Mangalashi. He and his peers now stash a portion of their income as Sats coin, the smallest unit of Bitcoin, believing Bitcoin’s long-term upward trend protects purchasing power.
“We have no regrets,” he says. “When we hold, the value continuously goes up, and whenever we decide to buy things, we’re still able to purchase with the same money that we have saved.”
Bitcoin is now making its way into local commerce as a Lusaka café accepting Bitcoin for coffee, just one of many, a small sign of wider acceptance. However, the bigger changes come through remittances; instead of queuing at Western Union, families can use Bitcoin to move cash.
“If someone has family abroad, it is easier and faster for them to send a bit of money as Bitcoin instead of a traditional service,” Mwila explains. He added that the money arrives, with no queues or hidden commissions.
Humphrey has experienced this firsthand. He once educated guesthouse owners who traditionally accepted only cash. So he created a curriculum (the open-source “My First Bitcoin” course) to teach shopkeepers basic money theory and crypto use. “Right now, we have over 100 businesses accepting payments in Bitcoin in the tourist town,” he says.
Bitcoin gives Zambia’s youth a new opportunity, borderless payments, and a way to trade beyond their postcode. As Humphrey puts it, Bitcoin was born as a response to “a financial crisis” and offers “an escape from inflation, from bad decisions policymakers can make around money”. He adds that technology like Lightning makes money “empower individuals,” and anyone in Zambia can send lightning-fast value for near-zero cost, a true game changer.
Community and Education at the Core
Zambia’s Bitcoin-driven youth movement has grown. For example, in 2021, Bitcoin Zambia was just a handful of friends. Then, Emmanuel and others invited five colleagues for coffee in a Lusaka cafe to talk crypto. That meetup of five people just talking about Bitcoin continued for a year before the community grew. Today, Bitcoin Zambia hosts regular Bitcoin meetups and developer workshops across Lusaka and the Copperbelt.
“The first impression that people usually get is that Bitcoin is a scam,” says Humphrey. Many Zambians have heard only about “get-rich-quick” schemes that used the buzzword “Bitcoin” and then vanished.
There are other hurdles, too. Some students distrust digital currency on principle or concern that it’s outright illegal. After all, the central bank warns, “use at your own risk”. Others fear volatility. But the community line of advice is consistent: learn first, invest only what you can afford to lose, and beware of “too good to be true” promises. These youth organisers encourage newcomers to start small, ask questions, and test the waters.
Breaking the Myths
Part of the mission is simply getting people’s heads around what Bitcoin isn’t. The Zambia Bitcoin community has adopted a “show, don’t just tell” approach. At Meetups, they often do live demos, sending a few hundred Kwacha worth of Sats between phones so sceptics see it happen. They compare it to mobile money (which 88 percent of recipients already use) but without a middleman.
“Young Zambians respond faster than most people think,” Emmanuel says of his peers.
For Zambia’s youth, financial freedom is no longer only about government aid or bank loans. It’s about plugging in their laptops and smartphones, logging onto international job platforms, and getting paid on their own terms. They’re turning what outsiders call “cryptocurrencies” into something tangible through grassroots communities and a little digital literacy.
Emmanuel reminisced that he didn’t know where his career would go after college, but “once I set foot into the Bitcoin space, I realised there was a vast number of opportunities. I’m freelancing, getting paid in Bitcoin, and saving in Bitcoin, which means I’m able to maintain the value that I get,” he narrated.
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This report was produced as part of the Liberalist Centre’s Journalism for Liberty Fellowship program with funding support from Atlas Network and the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA).
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